Wrestling Titles, Are They Even Worth The Metal They Are Made Of?

As a kid before I knew that wrestling matches were fixed, I used to think that if my guy was the champion he was the best. The problem was as a fan of heels that rarely happened. It would always seem they would get so close and then fall short. (Damn you Hogan I blame it all on you.)

Once I learned how the business worked though, I was able to control my anger issues, lol. It did make me question one thing though. What is the big deal about being the champion? Think about this for a second, if the title is nothing more than a prop then what’s the big deal?

I mean let’s face facts, just because you’re the champion it doesn’t make you the best wrestler in the company.

I can name plenty of former champions whose skills were overrated. I won’t get into any of those because that is not the focus here. The question is why do people still clamor to have their guy as champ?

Even if your guy is the champ it doesn’t mean he will earn any more respect than before. Let's look at Edge or Cena for arguments sake; they both 1000 time champions. Other than crazy Edge fans though, he isn’t looked at as great champ.

I would find it hard to believe that anyone would put him over HBK, Bret Hart, Stone Cold or any other legends from the past. I am sure people will say that Edge is a great worker, but it wasn’t the belts that made him great in the ring.

Let’s travel back in time for a few minutes.

Take a guy like the Million Dollar man; he is arguably one of the greatest heel wrestlers of all time. He never once held a world heavyweight title. So does that mean that I, or anyone else, should think that someone like Cena is better than him?

Somehow I highly doubt that would ever be the case. John Cena couldn’t even lace up DiBiase's boots.

The fact is the belt has, and always will be, nothing more than a prop. The belt has no determining factor over who is better. It is the wrestlers that determine that factor. The Jericho and HBK feud was great because of them, not the belt.

The Heavyweight title was nothing more than a cosmetic part in that feud. If you put that title on a stiff the title will mean nothing. The same theory applies for any title in the company as far as I am concerned.

The only reason that I can come up with, is that being the champ is somehow a way of showing respect. I don’t even buy into that theory; I think most knowledgeable fans respect someone just as much with or without a title. They rarely ever put the strap around the best workers. It usually goes on the guy that sells the most tickets. It has always been that way and most likely always will.

I will you tell you as a diehard Jerichoholic, it is Jericho’s work in the ring and on the stick that makes him great. He being a six time world champion takes no part in the equation for me, as far as how great he is. Let’s be honest folks, two of his runs were as WCW champ after Vince bought the company.

Two more of them came within a month of each other and were hardly memorable. Jericho had one run that lasted 2 month last year, and he would lose it to Swagger in 9 seconds. His only decent run was when he was the undisputed champion.

Do you see where I am going with this?

So next time you feel your wrestler is being slighted, keep in mind that it is nothing more than a hunk of metal. If your favorite wrestler is good then he will always be looked at that way. If he isn’t, well then just accept it and take it for what it is.

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